Chloe Brotheridge - The Anxiety Solution: A Quieter Mind, a Calmer You

Chloe Brotheridge, BSc, DipH, DipNLP, HC, is a clinical hypnotherapist and nutritionist who specializes in helping people who suffer from anxiety. Chloe has her own practice in London and has helped hundreds of sufferers overcome severe anxiety.

Having experienced severe anxiety and panic attacks first hand since her teens, and having found her own path to inner healing, Chloe now feels privileged to be able to share with others the transformative tools and techniques she used herself to achieve a sense of control and inner peace.

Chloe Brotheridge

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THE ANXIETY SOLUTION

A Quieter Mind,
A Calmer You

UK | USA | Canada | Ireland | Australia

India | New Zealand | South Africa

Michael Joseph is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com

First published 2017

Copyright Chloe Brotheridge, 2017

The moral right of the author has been asserted

ISBN: 978-1-405-93069-7

To my family: Mum, Dad, Livi, Charlotte, Granny and
Aidan. Thanks for being so wonderful.

A big, huge thank you to the team at Michael Joseph for being so welcoming and lovely. To my editor, Fenella Bates, for your incredible enthusiasm and support from day one. Your positive attitude and excitement about the book was so encouraging.

To Valeria Huerta, my book agent thank you for everything! Im forever grateful for all your help and kindness.

To Katy Sunnassee for your smart insights, fantastic editing and being an absolute pleasure to work with. Thank you to Helen Coyle, my copy-editor, for all your incredible help and great work.

Thank you, Mum, for teaching me so much about love and for always being there. Dad, thank you for being the worlds wisest, funniest and most patient man. You guys are everything to me.

Thanks to Livi and Charlotte for being such sweethearts. I love you to infinity and beyond.

Thank you to Aidan, my favourite person for teaching me that I am OK, for being my biggest cheerleader and for never saying a mean word, even when you were mad at me!

Thanks to Bonnie S, for simultaneously being the wisest and the most fun person ever, ever, ever. Bonnie B for all the chats, laughs and love. Will for being a great friend, dance partner and bringer of the fun. Josie, thanks for the BEST walks and talks. And to Lucy, I love you!

Thanks to Auntie Vicky and Uncle Ian, who Ill always look up to for all the advice and encouragement; and to Annie G for all the love and great company.

Thank you to all my clients for being so brave and inspiring and for teaching me so much. Special thanks to those whove allowed me to share their stories in this book.

And finally, thanks to you, the reader. You are amazing, strong, lovable and so, so enough. Please dont forget that! Heres to a Calmer You.

Visit www.calmer-you.com/bonus to claim your free bonuses, including audio tracks covering self-hypnosis for relaxation, mindfulness meditation and guided relaxation, plus lots of other useful stuff.

Talking about and sharing your experiences is incredibly important! Join me and other people going through similar things as you in our Facebook group, where you can give and receive support: https://www.facebook.com/groups/calmeryou/

If you suspect you have anxiety or any other mental health issue, its essential to speak to your doctor and follow their advice. I also recommend working with a therapist for one-to-one, tailored advice and support. Check with your doctor before starting any exercise or supplement regime.

When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

WAYNE DYER

Ive been anxious for as long as I can remember. My parents tell me I was a seriously cautious kid, clinging to the banister as I gingerly made my way down stairs. At ballet classes I would cry in the corner, too inhibited to take part. Although I was confident with people I knew and trusted, talking to new people felt impossible. I feared being told off or making a mistake and dreaded that I would be found out for not being good enough. When something did go wrong however trivial I found it hard to cope. On what I thought was my first day at Brownies I discovered that in fact Id gone on the wrong day and that I wasnt expected. I remember feeling an overpowering sense of shame and embarrassment, as if Id done something truly awful.

As a young child I had a lot of tantrums and meltdowns. I was a sensitive kid and not very good at handling my own feelings. I was very lucky to have wonderful parents but as the eldest child of three, I felt a lot of pressure to be a good girl. Increasingly, I kept my emotions hidden, so as not to upset Mum, but would then end up having huge, explosive tantrums (usually in public places like shopping centres!).

I first noticed the true signs of anxiety as a teenager. A combination of hormones, deep-seated self-esteem issues, repressed feelings, forays into drinking alcohol and late-night partying culminated in my first panic attack, at the age of fifteen.

During a panic attack your body reacts to what it perceives as a threat. More often than not its your nervous system overreacting to something that in fact is no threat at all. Triggers can range from giving a speech to too much caffeine, feeling hot and claustrophobic to being overwhelmingly stressed. Sometimes, though, attacks seem to happen for no reason at all. The horrible symptoms tingling fingers, tight chest, a sensation of impending doom that feel like a threat to your life, are really the result of your body pumping adrenaline into your muscles so that you can either run away or fight off the threat. In prehistoric times, when predators posed a real danger to mankind, this fight-or-flight response was what would have saved your ass. Nowadays, a journey on the tube or a looming work deadline can trigger the same response, except in these cases, theres nowhere to run to, and no need.

My first attack took place at a friends house. Nothing in particular had triggered it so it was a total shock and I had no idea how to respond. It was the worst feeling of my life. My heart raced and my chest tightened. I literally thought I was dying. (I later discovered that everyone whos experienced a panic attack has the same feeling of dread.) I prayed. I begged my friend to call an ambulance. I genuinely thought,